1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a disposable cleaning device for use in shotguns which fits inside a standard shotgun shell casing that mimics traditional cleaning methods and allows the user to simply fire the gun and slowly pull on a cord in order to clean a shotgun bore.
2. Background Art
The use of shotguns is very popular in the United States and abroad. Shotguns, however, like all other guns require regular cleaning in order to keep the gun in the best condition possible. In fact, a shotgun must be cleaned after each use. One of the main areas of shotgun which requires regular cleaning is the bore.
Because of the inconvenience and time required to clean a shotgun, most shotgun owners (as much as 80%) do not clean their shotguns at all.
Currently, there are several basic types of bore cleaning systems known in the art. The first is the most commonly known and most traditional method of using a cleaning “kit”. These kits consist of a long rod that can be assembled for running cotton wads laced with solvents or oils down the barrel. The user typically assembles a three part rod which, as an assembly, has one end that that looks like a large version of the “eye of a needle”. The user “threads” a thin cotton pad thru the eye and dips it in a bottle of gun bore solvents which when applied repeatedly to the gun bore via the assembled rod acts as a to dissolve much of the residue left in a shotgun bore from use. These solvents are almost always distillates of petroleum based chemicals.
Next, the eye is unscrewed and a metal wire brush is attached to the assembled rod. The user then passes the brush through the bore several times depending on the severity of the glazing or residue build up.
The user then usually does another solvent swipe followed by a dry wad cleaning. After that the user then reattaches the eye and pours gun oil on a threaded cotton pad and coats the bore with gun oil.
The second method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,883 issued to Kyle. This patent describes a barrel or bore cleaning device which is simply a shotgun shell containing low density randomly woven resilient organic material which is propelled along the bore when primer in the shell is detonated. The organic material scrapes the bore of the shotgun while it passes through the bore removing the residue in the bore.
A third method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,740 issued to J. W. Norman. This patent discloses a bore cleaning shell that uses a cleaning wad comprising two spaced apart parallel discs filled with spongy or compressible material between them. A weight assembly comprised of two spaced apart parallel discs which are filled with rigid material between them. The weight assembly is connected to coiled wire springs. When the gun is fired, the weight assembly is moved out of the barrel. The springs then stretch, pulling the cleaning wad through the barrel. Once, fired, the cleaning is essentially complete.
A fourth device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,047 issued to D. M. Davis which describes a shell for cleaning a shotgun. In the Davis shell, a piercing needle is used to puncture the thin wall of a seal, allowing compressed gas contained in a chamber to escape the shell and force the contents of the shell through the shotgun barrel. A coarse scrubbing wad then cleans the debris from the barrel. A knife edge crimp slices plastic containers containing cleaning solvent and antirust when the shell is exploded allowing the solvent and antirust to leave the shell.
These various methods, however, tend to force the cleaning materials and solutions through the bore so quickly that the solutions do not have time to act on the residue in the bore. Additionally, many of the previous methods use “gun powder” to propel the cleaning devices, thereby causing the bore to be contaminated with gun powder residue defeating the purpose of the cleaning method. The methods also may potentially cause injury as cleaning materials are shot out of the bore at a high rate of speed. Accordingly, what is needed are improvements in a shotgun cleaning shell which thoroughly clean the bore of a shotgun while eliminating a majority of the potential that injury could be caused.